Kerry Up to $180 Million

Sen. John F. Kerry’s presidential campaign announced Thursday it had raised a total of $180 million, exceeding nearly all expectations and keeping the Democrat financially competitive with President Bush.

As of the end of May, Bush had raised about $215 million for his reelection bid, a record for any presidential candidate. Kerry has raised more than any Democratic contender for the White House.

The Kerry campaign said that in June, for the fourth month in a row, it pulled in more than $30 million.

The Bush campaign has not released its June fundraising figures, but it expects to report it had $64 million in cash on hand at month’s end. Kerry’s campaign did not release its cash-on-hand figures.

Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said the candidate had received $100 million in donations of less than $200 -- far below the $2,000 limit on individual contributions. “The strength of the small donor has helped level the playing field with the Bush campaign,” she said.

Kerry’s reliance on the Internet, a tactic the Bush campaign did not aggressively pursue, helped fuel his fundraising success. He has raised $56 million online in 2004, including $12.5 million in June.

Trevor Potter, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, called Kerry’s fundraising total “an amazing amount -- he is far closer to parity with Bush’s totals than anyone thought.”

Potter added, “The small donor, Internet component also demonstrates the importance of Internet fundraising -- and there, Kerry has a clear advantage over Bush.”

University of Virginia political scientist Larry J. Sabato attributed Kerry’s fundraising success to the partisan fervor surrounding this year’s presidential race.

“Everyone underestimated the degree of anger at George W. Bush,” Sabato said. “That intense emotion, rather than any particular love for John Kerry, has fueled Democratic fundraising.”

Michael Meehan, a senior advisor to Kerry, said the campaign could reach the $200-million mark on its current pace.

Kerry will have less than a month to spend his money. Once he accepts the nomination at the Democratic National Convention, which begins July 26 in Boston, the campaign will be limited to spending $75 million in public funds for the election.

Bush will be officially nominated -- and receive the $75 million in public money -- in early September in New York. That will give him an additional month to raise and spend private donations.

Aides said Kerry had not decided whether to use his war chest to pay off a $6.4-million loan he made to his campaign in December, when his coffers were nearly empty. Bush at the time had $99 million in cash.

A month later, Kerry won the Iowa caucuses. But his fundraising did not begin in earnest until early March, when he effectively secured his party’s nomination. Bush had raised so much at that point that he began winding down his money operation.

Campaign finance experts predict that more than $1 billion will be spent on this year’s presidential race. It is the first time that the two prime candidates opted out of the public financing system before the conventions, enabling them each to raise unlimited amounts of money.

“This is an unprecedented situation,” said Steven Weissman of the Campaign Finance Institute in Washington. “These guys are in a world where there are no limits.”

Kerry on Thursday flew to Washington after spending two days out of public sight at a family estate in Pittsburgh.

Times staff writer Mark Z. Barabak contributed to this report.